Seattle Ironwoman

TLDR: Ironman PR by 17 min! Cold swim, BUMPY but fast bike, and got the run done! :)  9th AG.  Kona Slot! Swim - we got super lucky on race day with the outside air temp above 50 and the water around 60! It had been even colder in prior mornings, so this felt like a major win race morning! People were super worried about the cold swim but after swimming in colder water at CDA earlier this year, I figured I’d be ok. Sometimes fake confidence is enough! The start of the race went according to plan - lined up with Isaac and got lucky to start with Justin too!!! We poured water in our wetsuits 5min before to help us warm up before the cold water - and I think it helped a ton. I wanted to take the day mile by mile and the swim was the first 2 ish! Three beeps and then it was my turn to start! Ran in and hit the water - BRRRRR!!!! I knew I would warm up (and if I didn’t I just needed to try harder! ) so just took big breaths and swam towards the first buoys. This course seemed like it would

I gave birth at the end of August 2021. I had been running 3-4 times a week up until the week I delivered. I was SURE that I would get back to training 6 weeks after I had Chloe.... I had NO idea what birth would do to my body and how much pregnancy had changed it. I had obviously seen the gradual changes that happened, but wouldn't those just all go away? Wasn't my body prepared for this? Wasn't that what the last 9 months of growing her was about?  My delivery was fairly straight forward. I pushed for two hours which felt SO long but I'm thankful that generally the process was smooth. A few days after being home Isaac and I started taking Chloe on walks down our street - the weather was still SO nice since it was still summer. I walked one block down my street in my adult diaper and could hardly handle the walk back. My pelvic floor was SO weak and even my abs felt so weak. My back hurt from just that little walk. But CERTAINLY I'd be running soon, right? Those 6

WOW. So much has changed since I last posted in here. About two months after that last post I found out I was pregnant!  I spent 2021 in various phases of life: First trimester I was super sick and actually unable to even get much movement in! I don't think I've ever worked out that little in my life! Every day just felt like a struggle to survive. Second and third trimesters I was able to swim, bike, run and lift. I was able to run up until a couple days before I gave birth! I mostly ran and lifted - I hated biking pregnant and wanted to limit my covid exposure so I didn't go to the pool super consistently until the very end of my pregnancy. I spent the rest of 2021 fumbling my way through learning how to be a mom and take care of a baby! It was months of living in a haze of no sleep, hormones and tears BUT with all of that in the rear view, it was an amazing time of growth and learning so much. I had 4 IM branded deferred races from 2020 that rolled to 2021, then to 2022.

Since I usually use this blog for training and race reports, clearly haven't had much to update in 2020! This years' calendar was supposed to include: Victoria 70.3 CDA 70.3 Santa Rosa 140.6 WA 70.3 70.3 WORLDS in Taupo, NZ! Clearly, none of these were a reality this year. It's been a rollercoaster of a year but I think I've done a decent job with coping. I never stopped training, still keeping up an average of 12-15 hours a week. It's kept me sane despite everything going on in our country and our world. In the absence of racing I've picked up some new hobbies, one being gravel riding (thanks to Rosanne Kelley!!)! I am a SUPER newb but have had fun exploring some new places and learning some actual bike handling skills (which is for sure a weakness of mine).  Otherwise, I feel pretty fortunate this year. I'm able to work remotely for my job and have a nice setup in the townhouse now. I miss my work friends SO much but we've found some ways to spend time

tl:dr version: Swim: Ocean swim, 33:43 - good for ocean swim! Bike: 2:51:45 - climb, descend, repeat, did not go great (power output low) Run: 1:58:16 - terrible time, but actually super proud of this half with the heat Overall - 5:29:59 for my hottest race ever - not a PR but not my worst day! Longer version:  I signed up for Cabo hoping to get a slot to the WC's in NZ. You never know who else will show up to race or what kind of day you'll have - so instead of only focusing on a slot I tried to focus on having a fun racecation with friends, keeping some post IM MT fitness and getting to race somewhere new!  The Sunday leading into race week I caught a nasty cold. I then had a work trip the first half of the week to Minneapolis which did not help things! It never went into my lungs thank goodness, but definitely zapped my energy all week. By the time we got to Cabo, I would say I was at 75% and on the mend for sure, but going into race morning I felt about 80-85%. I w

Short Summary - Swim: 1:06 - PR by 3 minutes Bike: 6:06 - PR by 9 minutes (but on a WAY tougher course than AZ!) Run: 4:28 - PR by 3 min Overall: 11:52:21 IM MT Swim:  short version- got a swim PR. long version - as I walked to the swim start, I cried (I don’t think I’ve cried in 2019). I felt so thankful to get to the start line, to be a part of this incredible group of people, and so proud of all the work I put in the bank to get here. As soon as I lined up to hit my rolling start, a calm overcame me and I repeated “stay present, each mile as it comes”. I ran in, dove to start and instantly my goggles filled with water. FUCK. I stopped to drain them and tried to keep swimming - repeated that 4 more times till I just treaded water to try to see what was wrong. Could I do this swim with no goggles or with them full? I swam so many OWS with these goggles, what on earth was happening?! Eventually I got the left goggle cleared and staying water free, and just dealt with a hal